Strangers

"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth."-Oscar Wilde

One thing I enjoy about long distance travel is having conversation with strangers.We get to discuss so many things .Its fresh discussion without any background. Once I was travelling alone and met a lady at Trichy airport. She too was travelling via Chennai to Mumbai. I was not able to understand the local language and she instantly came to my rescue. At our Chennai break she narrated her life story which was quite interesting .She had so much warmth and affection. Such small interactions remain in memory for long time.

Being stranger is like having a protective mask,isn't it??Since childhood we have been instructed multiple times not to interact, talk to or believe strangers. Obviously for safety reasons it's absolutely necessary and I do the same with my kid now. But as we grow communicating with strangers sometimes is really relaxing and soothing.

I have always been introvert and generally felt shy to talk to people. But one thing I came to know is that its much more easy to converse with strangers when we are introverts.As put by Fiona Shaw ,"I'm not afraid of chaos and I'm happy talking to strangers. I really love not knowing..."

I benefitted this to understand any new city I relocated too.It was my conversations with people in local trains, neighbourhood, taxi drivers that I understood what Mumbai is all about.Not only for information purpose but sometimes on an emotional level too we need to talk to someone who is completely alien to us, who doesn’t know our background and who we are.In such cases we may feel assured that we won’t be judged or what someone feels won’t matter in future. We need someone just to listen to us, someone whom we can pour our heart to.

I remember I was in a fix whether to appear for CA exam or skip the attempt. I had my examination form and was sitting outside the Ramakrishna mission temple which was near to ICAI office. An old lady who may be observing me came near and asked me what I was doing there in noon, when temple door were closed. I explained her exams were near on which she instantly replied go ahead dear, you will definitely do good. It was her confidence or the general assurance; I went ahead, filled the form and submitted it immediately. That was my first instance of talking and trusting a stranger.I wanted that assurance not from known circle but from someone who knew absolutely nothing.

Our near and dear ones ,our friends ,our colleagues know us so well that sometimes fear of being judged or getting a biased opinion creeps in.They are our well wishers but their opinions are based on our background.Our circumstances change.They may not necessarily understand what we are going through emotionally or mentally in current context always.We then start knowingly unknowingly hiding certain things, our options ,our beliefs. In such case having a stranger to talk is really a blessing in disguise. Talking to someone in world outside can be relaxing and soothing. We get different insights and perspectives of what life is all about. So much is happening in life of people around. Interacting with strangers give us an opportunity to share our views more openly. We can definitely stand to gain from their experience or feedback or if not we can at least feel light and at peace once we have expressed ourselves without inhibition and vice versa also.

Every human needs someone to connect to at inner level. Connecting to someone and being able to share at emotional level is the most wonderful feeling. With strangers there is no baggage which needs to be carried forward. Few Minutes of conversation can be life changing. A simple little helping hand can save someone’s life, can pull someone out of mental turmoil and bring a great relief.Who proves to be a blessing in disguise to whom ,we never know.Its rightly said,

"Do not forget to be kind to strangers, for by doing so,some people have embraced Angels without knowing it."